Mac bounces the Brandon Bobcats
They’ve played fifteen sets, and they ain’t lost one. The McMaster Marauders men’s team played their fifth game of the preseason on Thursday, defeating the Brandon University Bobcats in three straight sets to put Mac at 5-0 in non-conference play.
The Bobcats play in the Canada West conference and finished the 2011 season ranked seventh in the CIS. With such a strong resume, the match was touted to be a long battle between two CIS heavyweights.
Early in the first set, it looked like McMaster struggled to keep up with the Bobcats, getting into a 5-0 hole before scoring their first point. The rest of the first set would be a hard-fought battle; with each team gaining minor leads on one another before McMaster took over late to win the set 25-21.
But the first set would be as competitive as this match would get. The men’s squad found a weakness in the Bobcat’s serve-receive and would use this advantage to prevent any offense to develop from their opponents. Tie in a lack of offense with an inability to find a service rhythm and Brandon University was asking for a rough second set. The Marauders would win the set 25-12.
In the final set of the match, the story remained the same. The Bobcats struggled to string together successful possessions, allowing Mac to take full control of the game. The Marauders’ front line had another strong performance, bolstered by an excellent performance from their setter Austin Campion-Smith.
OUA conference play starts on October 20th for McMaster, when the York Lions visit Burridge Gym.
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